"Impressive in Its Cynicism"

"We want to see Ukrainians and the Russians talking to each other. And if they don't, then there are going to have to be consequences."
British Prime Minister David Cameron

"I presented a number of ideas on behalf of [President Barack Obama]." After much discussion, the foreign minister made it clear that President Putin is not prepared to make any decision on Ukraine until after the referendum on Sunday."
"There will be consequences if Russia does not find a way to change course."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

"We don't have a common vision of the situation. Our differences remain. [Mr. Kerry] made no threats regarding Russia. [Sanctions would be a] counterproductive instrument".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergiy Lavrov

Mr. Lavrov did give assurance that Russia has no intention of intervening militarily in eastern Ukraine, despite President Putin's calling a snap military exercise near the border. Some skepticism was expressed by Mr. Kerry based on similar assurances by Mr. Lavrov that preceded the appearance of Russian troops in Crimea. But of course, when they surfaced in Ukraine, denials were made that they were Russian troops.

Matters are not always what they seem. These were simply Ukrainian 'sympathizers' who had garbed themselves in quasi-Russian uniforms, available in any surplus store in the area, went the line on that occasion. On this occasion Mr. Lavrov went to great pains to explain to the wooden-heads that simply cannot understand, or choose not to, that Crimea is of immense cultural, heritage importance to Russia.

Crimea "means immeasurably more than the Comoros for France or the Falklands for Britain". Remember the Falklands War, when former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dispatched British war ships to the Argentinian Malvinas when Argentina had the unmitigated gall to claim that its historical ownership of its geographically close islands were theirs, not the imperialist Britain's; alas islanders did not agree.

Speaking by telephone with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Vladimir Putin patiently explained that the referendum "fully complies with international law and the United Nations charter", despite all indications to the contrary, including Western nations' insistence on its illegality. Mr. Ban's response was not revealed.

A pro-Russian crowd celebrates in Lenin Square, in Simferopol. Photograph: Vadim Ghirda/AP

Moreover, just to keep the tension on an even boil, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated its claim to reserve the right to intervene in eastern Ukraine for it must, to defend ethnic Russians under threat. Overnight clashes on Thursday in Donetsk demonstrated just how much Ukraine had lost control of the country to the point where basic security could not be provided.

Of course the clashes, as it happened, occurred when a hostile pro-Russian crowd confronted pro-government supporters. Ukraine officials huffily called the Russian statement "impressive in its cynicism".

According to a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman, the Donetsk clashes had "a direct connection to deliberate, destructive actions of certain citizens of Russia and some Russian social organizations, representatives of which are present in our country to destabilize the situation and escalate tensions."



And now that a majority vote in Crimea has affirmed that 95% of voters have decided that they prefer Russian citizenship to that of the Ukraine, another round of concerns and strategic sanctions will be leading world news.